


We Begin Again

by iam93percentstardust



Series: 1000 Ways to Fall in Love [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 2012 Branching Timeline, Alternate Universe - Canon Adjacent, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 02:06:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19714102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iam93percentstardust/pseuds/iam93percentstardust
Summary: After- after the battle, after Loki escapes with the Tesseract, after the arc reactor gives out (and Tony still shudders to think about that; he swears he could feel the shrapnel moving toward his heart)- Tony goes to find Steve.





	We Begin Again

After- after the battle, after Loki escapes with the Tesseract, after the arc reactor gives out (and Tony still shudders to think about that; he swears he could feel the shrapnel moving toward his heart)- Tony goes to find Steve.

He’d heard the man on the radio earlier, saying that he’d located Loki, but he hadn’t heard anything after that. Tony can’t help himself- he’s worried. He sort of feels like he shouldn’t be after the things that Steve had said to him on the helicarrier but Captain America has been his hero since he was little. Besides, Tony had said some pretty hurtful things as well.

He finds Steve on one of the balconies overlooking the main foyer, prone and unconscious. “Cap?” he calls. When Steve doesn’t respond, he yells louder, “Steve!”

There’s an odd sort of rustle behind a pillar but Tony’s too distracted by the sight of his fallen captain. He drops to his knees beside Steve’s rear- _America’s ass_ , he thinks hysterically- and pats his cheek.

“Come on, Steve. Wake up. We’ve got a problem.”

It takes a moment but Steve’s eyes flicker and then he jolts awake all at once. “Loki!” he exclaims as he lurches to his feet.

Tony sits back on his heels and holds up a placating hand. “He’s long gone.” Steve swears and rips off his cowl to run a hand through his hair. Tony frowns. “You okay?”

He knows that none of them really are okay. They’d gone through all that and still lost Loki and the Tesseract but it seems almost personal for Steve.

“Yes,” Steve starts to say. Then- “No. Jesus- what happened, Stark?”

Tony sits down fully and pats the ground beside him. He waits until Steve is seated before he says, “The arc reactor. It quit working and we took our eyes off Loki for a second. He grabbed the Tesseract and disappeared. Fuck, Cap, I’m sorry.”

Steve’s face goes tight and Tony tenses, looking away. He can’t bear to look at Steve’s face, can’t see that he disappointed him yet again. Steve had been his hero once upon a time and, while Tony knows that he’s a screwup, he doesn’t think he’ll be able to handle that again though.

To his surprise though, Steve just sighs. “He got the better of me too.”

Tony’s startled. He had expected a repeat of the argument on the helicarrier, not this. He glances back up at Steve, who’s looking at him with this somewhat hurt expression though it disappears as soon Tony looks at him.

“What happened?” Tony asks, a little hesitantly.

Steve sighs again. “I had him on the ropes and then he tells me- he tells me that Bucky’s still alive.”

“Oh,” Tony says. He understands now. Howard’s stories had always been about Steve but Aunt Peggy used to talk about Bucky Barnes too. Tony knows how much Barnes had meant to Steve.

“It shouldn’t have meant anything to me,” Steve continues. “But it was the way he said it. Like he wanted me- needed me- to know it. Like it meant something to him too.”

“Thor said Loki is a master manipulator,” Tony points out.

“Yeah but…” Steve shakes his head. “It’s just something I’ve been thinking about. I asked Fury once, wanted to go see his grave, and he said they looked but they never found him. I guess I wished it was true.”

Tony nods and leans his head back to stare at the ceiling, closing his eyes. Beside him, Steve is also quiet. “What a mess,” he murmurs. “Still- not a total loss though.” He reaches out to pat the scepter. “We’ve still got this.”

“How did he get it?” Steve asks.

Tony opens his eyes to see Steve frowning at it. “What?”

“Loki. How did he get the scepter? We handed it to Sitwell and Rumlow’s team. How did Loki end up with it?”

Tony frowns too. “He could have attacked them,” he says doubtfully. He knows that couldn’t have happened though.

“But they should have called it in.” Steve glances down through the glass floor. Tony follows his gaze to see Rumlow and Sitwell speaking to Secretary Pierce. Neither Rumlow nor Sitwell look particularly injured or even ruffled for that matter at the loss of the scepter. In fact, there’s a distinctly smug look on Rumlow’s face and, as they finish their conversation, a brief expression of wild glee appears on Pierce’s face. It’s disconcerting and off-setting. Tony doesn’t like it in the slightest.

“Pierce was really pushy that I give him the Tesseract,” Tony says slowly.

“That’s against SHIELD protocol,” Steve points out. “He should know that.”

“Yeah,” Tony agrees. “Maybe he’s hoping that I didn’t know that.” His eyes narrow. “Son of a bitch.”

He can tell that Steve is running through strategies in his mind. Steve nods firmly to himself before standing and reaching out a hand to help Tony up. “Shawarma, right?” he asks. “Gather up the rest of the team. We’ve got a lot to discuss.”

Tony starts to leave but then stops and looks back at Steve. “Hey, Cap?” he calls. “For what it’s worth, I don’t know if Barnes lived or died. But I’ll have JARVIS look into it. Maybe he can find something.”

Steve smiles warmly and something inside Tony thaws just a little. “Thanks, Tony.” He starts to go as well but then says, “I’m sorry. For what I said back in the lab. I shouldn’t have-”

“Don’t worry about it,” Tony says, waving him off. He’d said some pretty awful things too and besides, it makes him squirmy to know that Captain America is apologizing to him.

He’s half-expecting Steve to expect his brushoff easily but Steve surprises him again. “No,” he says firmly. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. You _are_ a hero. It shouldn’t have taken a wormhole for me to see it.”

Tony’s a little taken aback but then he smiles, not the practiced one that he gives the press but a genuine one. “Thank you,” he says softly. “I’m sorry too.”

Steve nods and then he’s gone. Tony can’t stop himself from saying giddily to himself, “He called me a hero.”

Maybe they hadn’t gotten off to the best start but he feels, somehow, that this new team is going to work out just fine.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for "We Begin Again"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20357674) by [tishawish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tishawish/pseuds/tishawish)




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